Mulberry Products
This wonderful tree has a long history of use in Europe as well as in China. Because it is very late to flower in spring, choosing the absolute right conditions in which to bloom, Mulberry was dedicated by the Romans to the goddess of wisdom Minerva. Indigo Herbs is delighted to offer you Organic White Mulberries that have been gently shade dried to ensure the nutritional content remains intact.
Mulberry features heavily in the story by Ovid of Pyramus and Thisbe. This tale of forbidden love tells of how when the two lovers arrange to meet under a Mulberry tree they are individually met by a lioness with blood dripping from her jaws from a fresh kill. First Thisbe arrives and is so scared by the lion that she runs away and loses her shawl in the process. When Pyramus gets there he sees the lioness with blood around her mouth and Thisbe’s shawl and immediately thinks the worst. Instead of carrying on his life without his loved one Pryamus falls on his own sword and splashes the mulberry tree in the process with his own blood. Thisbe finally returns to find the body Pyramus and in turn morns the loss of her lover and takes her own life with the same sword. In the legend the Mulberry soaks up the blood of the two lovers and the fruits turn red giving origin to the difference between red and white Mulberry. In China Mulberry’s have been used since 27 BCE as a fodder for silk worms. This was a closely guarded secret for many hundreds of years with many stories of Mulberry seeds being stolen out of China.
White Mulberry is native to Northern China although it is naturalised in other countries as well. If grown in sub-tropical climates then it is evergreen but in temperate region it is deciduous, losing its leaves every autumn. The trees are short lived and can grow to a height of around 10-20 meters tall; the leaves are rounded, creased with rough texture and serrated. The flowers come in catkins and are of single sex meaning that there are both male and female trees. When the pollen is released it is done so by the flowers ejecting them at a velocity of about 350 miles an hour! This is unique in the plant kingdom as the only plant species that has such a violent release of pollen.
